Policy

Legislative Day

Promotores and Community Health Workers (CHWs) make an annual pilgrimage to Sacramento bringing the voices, concerns and hopes of their communities to the attention of our state legislators. Carrying our core issues of access to health care, parental engagement in education, and immigrant rights, promotores support policies that positively impact these issues ensuring that they represent the desires of their community.

Promotores and CHWs are the heart of their communities, neighborhoods and homes. Across California, promotores and CHWs work to provide information and support for health, education, immigration and other issues to individuals and families helping them to navigate systems and processes, while contributing to making them better! Whether assisting communities in understanding and enrolling into Covered California, offering Teen Pregnancy Prevention workshops, or teaching promotores and CHWs how to form Bailoterapia (Dance Therapy) classes to address obesity, promotores make a difference.

2016 Legislative Priorities

Promotores across California urge their representatives to support legislation that improves the quality of life for the most vulnerable communities they serve, and that are most impacted by inequities in health, education and immigration issues. On May 2–3, 2016, promotores in California urged legislators to support:

EDUCATION

SB 1014 (Liu) Student Parental and Sick Leave
Graduation rates of pregnant and parenting students in California receive inconsistent Family Leave and Sick Time to care for their children compared to adults in the workforce. Without Family Leave most students are deemed to have unexcused absences that are typically related to giving birth or caring for their sick child. Moreover, these students are involuntarily removed from their schools causing disruption in their education and putting their path to college at risk. This bill would allow pregnant and parenting students to continue their education by ensuring they receive parental and sick leave, and that it is applied uniformly across the state.

AB 1846 (López) Restoration of Adult Education Funding
Many adults rely on adult schools to learn English, study for citizenship, or to obtain their GED. During the great recession of 2008, under a struggling state budget, California cut funding to adult education schools across the state. As a result approximately 65 adult schools were forced to close their doors permanently. This bill would restore $250 million to the adult education sector restoring services to adults who contribute to our workforce and society.

HEALTH

SB 10 (Lara) Healthcare for All
Many adults still lack access to health care. Medi-Cal or Covered California is not available for undocumented individuals, who contribute to the workforce and pay taxes. This bill requires California to apply for a waiver under section 1332 (known as the 1332 waiver) available through the Affordable Care Act. 1332 waiver approval would enable undocumented individuals and families to purchase health insurance plans, though without financial assistance, through our state’s Covered California system.

IMMIGRATION

SB 1139 (Lara) Medical DREAMER
California is in the midst of a chronic medical professional shortage that disproportionately impacts low-income, rural, and communities of color. This shortage impacts health, limited resources and productivity in the overall workforce. SB 1139 would make eligible all those who have met the licensure requirements under a health professional board, regardless of immigration status, eligible for California scholarship and loan forgiveness programs for health professionals.

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120,000

Californians each month

receive health information and referrals from 4,000 VyC promotores.

“Knocking on doors when you have no idea what you will find on the other side, finding that sometimes they are not ready to hear what you have to say, sharing information that one day will be exactly what they need to hear.” - Promotora